Harrisons Book of Backyard Birds is a book of 5000 words about my own experiences with backyard birds in my own backyard. It is a book that would be beneficial for any age, and especially 7 years and up. It’s about getting to know a few species of birds that regularly fly into our world everyday, mostly they go unnoticed and are sometimes even discouraged in our neighborhoods. At the same time they grace us with their songs every morning and every evening yet I wonder how many people actually take note of this? So I have made it my business to get to know the birds around my house—and It is only once that you take notice of these birds and they're oratories that you become immediately drawn in—for me it has become an absolute obsession and so I have turned that obsession into a little book for my grandson, Harrison. This is a book that celebrates birds and all their beauty and loving nature, and an attempt to bring a narrative to the youngest in our population about the importance of bird watching and being aware of the situations and environments that support birds and to become an active member in the longevity of the bird population in their respective areas.
Inside is both a visual documentation and a verbal component that outlines all the details of the birds appearance as well other detailed information on size, weight, environment, sustenance and daily patterns of behavior and especially the idea of ‘family’, and how they always stick together through thick and thin. All photographs of these birds were taken in my own backyard with a variety of lenses. The birds and ducks are numerous and abundant along with several other species I have documented, as I also feed the birds and ducks everyday, twice a day with an array of seeds and other good ‘natural’ things for their digestion. Documented in this book are 16 different species of water fowl with a visual depiction and verbal description. As well, I have created 8 illustrations of my favorite birds to help illustrate another aspect of documentation for the field explorer interested in drawing birds. Provided with each species are a few paragraphs that describe some of my own encounters with the birds where I describe some of the intimate details of their behaviors. A guide to making a field explorers diary is at the end of the book to help readers start their own bird sanctuaries in their own backyards, which is to call the readers to action and involve themselves in their natural surroundings and to become a bird explorer too.
This is a book that is very close to my heart as it has been written for my grandson Harrison David Higgins whom is currently 2 years old. It is my gift to him and a little seed I have planted for him, for his future and his quest for knowledge as he begins a journey of learning and understanding. It is an effort to help him form a relationship with nature early, and to be sure that nothing goes unnoticed. So he knows that all around us, everyday nature gives us the wonder and the intrigue that is our lives and it constantly demands our attention and our care, with respect to never harm her and always treat her as family.